Category
Health Economics
6 visual stories
Charted: Rural Hospital Closures Since 2005 — How Many Extra Minutes to the Nearest ED?
UNC Sheps Center counts 197 rural hospital closures and conversions since 2005. Across mapped counties that lost their nearest hospital, desk road-network joins put the median added drive to an open emergency department at about 22 minutes — and 38% of those counties face 30 minutes or more.
Aug 28, 2026
Charted: GLP-1 Diabetes Drugs Now Take 10.8% of Medicare Part D Spending
CMS 2024: diabetes-indicated GLP-1s cost Part D $24.57B — 10.8% of program drug dollars on ~1.3% of claims. Ozempic alone is $12.38B. MA–PDs likely carry most of the bill.
Aug 24, 2026
Charted: Generic Price Declines Versus Manufacturer Exits — The Shortage Lag
Desk-built oral-solid price indexes (NADAC/WAC blends) fell ~62% peak-to-trough by 2019; manufacturer exits peaked ~7 quarters later. Official FDA shortage counts sit well below tracker tallies, and the tape thickened where price floors and manufacturer benches were thinnest.
Aug 24, 2026
Charted: Where Hospital Systems Dominate, Commercial Prices Run Hotter
Employers pay about 254% of Medicare nationally; desk joins of RAND metro ratios to AHA-derived admissions HHI put very-high-concentration markets near 312%—a 71 pp gap versus unconcentrated CBSAs.
Aug 23, 2026
Charted: Jumbo Employers Covering GLP-1s for Weight Loss Jump to 43% — While Those Drugs Take Nearly Half of 2024 Rx Spend Growth
KFF’s 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey puts coverage of GLP-1 agonists for weight loss at 43% among firms with 5,000+ workers (up from 28% in 2024). Mercer finds 44% of employers with 500+ already cover obesity medications. Evernorth’s commercial book shows weight-management therapies drove 46.8% of the 2024 pharmacy spend increase.
Aug 23, 2026
Charted: Sterile Injectables Are 71% of Active US Drug Shortages
USP’s end-2025 shortage map puts sterile injectables at 71% of 75 active shortages, while ASHP’s molecule tally sits at 227 in Q2 2026—with 48% of new shortages sole-source and one North Carolina plant still anchoring ~8% of hospital injectable volume.
Aug 23, 2026